Page 45 of Bad Daddy

Danny tore his gaze away from the dumpster to look at his friend. “Yeah?”

“You’re gonna be okay, right?” Manuel’s expression was tentative, concerned, but there was no pity on his face. “This was a good thing?”

“Yeah,” Danny said. “Yeah, this was a good thing.”

He didn't throw the gray coat in the dumpster. It wasn’t a warm coat, but it was still a nice one, and Danny couldn't bring himself to send it to a landfill. He knew a donation bin he could drop it into though, so instead of throwing it away, he tucked the coat under his arm as he and Manuel made their way back to the apartment Danny was leaving behind.

Chapter 12

Danny changed his phone number. It didn't ring in the days that followed with Clint’s incoming calls, because of course it wouldn’t, because his number was different and Clint didn't have it, but he still found himself checking it too often, sure he had missed some sort of message.

He didn’t want to hear from Clint, wished that he never had to deal with the man again, but he still checked his messages on reflex, jumping every time his phone made a sound. The habit ingrained within him.

He was grateful that he had taken all the extra shifts at Grand Azteca over his spring break. They gave him something to do with his time that wasn't just stewing and worrying, but he still found himself unsure of what to do during the hours he wasn't working. He was taking up room in Haru’s home, but he also didn't want to feel like he was a stranger. He wanted to feel like he fit in the space. Like he wasn't someone putting Haru out, for giving him a place to sleep.

He read more, listening to audiobooks Jacob recommended as he walked around the neighborhood and got used to it. He cleaned what he could in the apartment, straightening up the living room and sweeping the floors. While Haru kept his home tidy, Danny wanted to help make it nice.

Despite the distractions, the uncertainty of all the change still caught up to him. Haru found him one evening after arriving home earlier than Danny expected, on his knees in the bathroom, furiously scrubbing at the tile as tears dripped down his cheeks.

Danny didn't want to talk about it. Didn’t want to have to vocalize how tired and frustrated and scared he was about what might happen tomorrow, in a week, in a month.

Haru hadn’t asked though. All he had done was thank Danny for cleaning the bathroom and opened his arms, an offering. Danny had fallen against Haru’s chest and Haru had just held him for a while, until the tears had stopped.

So Danny found more things to do. In the following weeks he googled recipes and talked to Manuel and then bought groceries with some of his tip money, making Haru dinners to come home to. Haru’s smile was always a mix of pleased and surprised and grateful.

He thanked Danny in ways that felt too heartfelt to be real. Haru had given Danny everything, including the luxury of free time, and Danny didn't feel like he was doing enough. Could anything be enough?

Every so often Danny got out his sketchbook and colored pencils and doodled here and there. He tried some figure drawing and some sketches. He made more comics about The Adventures of Captain Haruto Nakamura, Explorer of Deep Space. He still hadn’t shown them to Haru yet, but the comic had gained a plot. The Captain was currently in the middle of a rescue mission. Kirah was an alien, an outcast, and everyone else had given up on him because he ‘wasn't worth saving,’ but The Captain refused to give up.

Everyone told The Captain that it’d be hard, a thankless job to save Kirah, but The Captain was determined to succeed. He liked Kirah, and he couldn’t just stand by and watch someone struggle.

Danny hoped that one day he’d be brave enough to show Haru the comic. He thought Haru might like it.

***

“Hey, Haru?” Danny asked tentatively, creeping into the dining room. Haru had spent the last week working on a big case and had spread out all over the table. Danny hadn't wanted to interrupt him, but it was getting late and he'd been sitting on his news all day and if he didn't tell someone right now he might just burst from holding it inside. “Can I talk to you?”

Haru looked up at him from where he was bent over pages of paper print outs and smiled. He looked tired though, and Danny immediately felt bad about bothering him. “Of course. What's up?”

“It can wait if you're still busy,” Danny hurried to say, clutching his phone in his hand.

“I'm never too busy for you,” Haru said, so easily that Danny wanted to melt. “C’mere. Or do you want to move to the living room? Get more comfortable?” He started to get up.

“It's okay,” Danny said. “It's not um, anything big. I-I just wanted to, um, tell someone. My news.”

“Good news?” Haru asked, standing up anyway.

Danny's cheeks heated and he looked at the floor, fingers tightening around his phone. He'd played the email out loud three times just to make sure it was real. “Yeah, um. Yeah, good news.”

Haru brightened and he stopped just in front of Danny. “Well hey,” he said gently, picking up on Danny's nerves. “I'm all for hearing your good news.”

Danny took a breath. He could do this. He wanted to. He wanted to tell Haru.

Haru would know some of why it mattered so much.

“I…” Danny glanced up at Haru’s earnest, open expression and made himself keep talking. “I went and got tested a couple of days. I-I figured that now that I'm not… with him anymore I, you know, I um, I got to…care. About that.”

Haru touched Danny's free hand, curling their fingers together. His voice was quiet when he said, “You said good news?”

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